I have a confession to make, and given that it's nearly Christmas I'm hoping for a bit of goodwill. I don't make my own pastry for mince pies. I used to, every year, and every year I'd end up with butter under my fingernails, flour on the ceiling and pastry that was, at best, about as good as the stuff from the supermarket.
So I've stopped. Life is short, December is busy, and a ready-rolled sheet of shortcrust is one of the great inventions of the modern age. What I do instead is put my effort into the filling, which is where the flavour is anyway.
So I've stopped. Life is short, December is busy, and a ready-rolled sheet of shortcrust is one of the great inventions of the modern age. What I do instead is put my effort into the filling, which is where the flavour is anyway.
Ingredients (makes 12)
- 2 x 320g packs of ready-rolled shortcrust pastry (all-butter if you can)
- 1 jar of mincemeat (about 400g)
- 1 small eating apple, peeled and finely diced
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 tbsp brandy, rum or orange juice
- A handful of chopped pecans or almonds (optional)
- 1 egg, beaten, or a splash of milk
- Icing sugar, to dust
Method
- Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan) and lightly grease a 12-hole bun or muffin tin.
- Tip the mincemeat into a bowl and stir in the apple, orange zest, brandy and nuts. This is the cheat that makes all the difference: jarred mincemeat on its own is very sweet and a bit flat, and the fresh apple and zest wake it right up.
- Unroll the pastry and cut out 12 circles about 8cm across. Press them gently into the tin.
- Fill each one with a heaped teaspoon of mincemeat. Don't overfill them, or they'll bubble over and weld themselves to the tin.
- Re-roll the scraps and the second sheet and cut out 12 smaller circles or stars for the tops. Stars are easier, look more festive and don't need sealing.
- Brush the tops with beaten egg and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden.
- Leave them in the tin for five minutes, then lift them out onto a rack. Dust with icing sugar before serving.
In defence of shortcuts
I think there's a lot of unnecessary guilt around cooking, especially at this time of year. Every magazine is full of people making their own everything, and it's easy to feel like you're cheating if you don't. But the point of a mince pie is to be eaten warm with a cup of tea or a glass of something, ideally in good company. Nobody at that table is going to ask whether you made the pastry from scratch, and if they do, you're allowed to give them a smaller one.
They keep for a few days in a tin and can be warmed through in a low oven. They also freeze well, unbaked, which means you can make a batch now and pretend to be extremely organised on Christmas Eve.
Merry Christmas, if I don't post again before then. I'll probably be under a pile of wrapping paper and cheese.
They keep for a few days in a tin and can be warmed through in a low oven. They also freeze well, unbaked, which means you can make a batch now and pretend to be extremely organised on Christmas Eve.
Merry Christmas, if I don't post again before then. I'll probably be under a pile of wrapping paper and cheese.
